Abstract

This article develops a distinctive critical realist analysis of structure and agency . It first describes Roy Bhaskarâ��s account of critical realism; then discusses critical realism in general; next introduces Anthony Giddensâ��s structuration theory and two particular applications of critical realism to structure and agency â�� those of Bhaskar and Margaret Archer; and, finally, presents a third such application based on the strategic-relational approach. The latter goes beyond conventional analyses of the duality, dualism, or dialectic of structure and agency by studying the recursive conditioning, mutual coupling, and complex co-evolution of structure and agency and, above all, by stressing the differential, spatio-temporal relationality of structure and agency. Its advantages over other approaches should emerge as we proceed.